Done waiting for the Stranger Things spin-off show? It’s back early — with a date
Netflix has locked in a swift turnaround for animated spin-off Stranger Things: Tales from ’85, with Season 2 dropping much sooner than you’d think.
If you thought Netflix would drag its feet with another year-long wait, think again. The animated Stranger Things: Tales from '85 is bucking that trend with a much quicker turnaround than anyone expected.
Stranger Things: Tales from '85's second series lands on Netflix 17 September 2026.
That's right, the first season only hit the platform on 23 April this year, and now we've got a confirmed date for the follow-up—hardly the usual 'Netflix wait-and-see' approach. They've even thrown out a fresh batch of images to stoke the fire for fans counting the days.
New Threats in Hawkins
This spin-off sticks tightly to the show's roots, parking the story squarely in Hawkins during the winter of 1985. The setup places us after the end of Season 2 of the original series, but before Season 3 kicks in. Good luck keeping the timeline straight, but that's at least where we are: the original gang, still shell-shocked from their face-off with the Horde Queen, just trying for something approaching normality. Except, being Hawkins, that doesn't last long.
The start of Series 2 finds the group prepping for Valentine's Day, which they apparently celebrated with as much anxiety as all their previous supernatural battles. This time round, a weird batch of mysterious flowers springs up all over town—think more 'sinister bouquet' than 'Mother's Day at Tesco'. These flowers aren't innocent. Cue Max and Nikki, who, in a bit of classic questionable judgement, reckon it's a bright idea to flog them to the rest of Hawkins, no idea they're peddling something supernatural.
And just to add to the chaos, this new flora coincides with a rash of ghostly sightings across town, plus a cloud of hate sprites—never a dull day for these kids—piling on the pressure to sort things before yet another door to the Upside Down swings open.
Who You'll Hear This Time
The voice cast for Season 2 is almost entirely made up of returning players, which fans of the first animation run will appreciate:
- Brooklyn Davey Norstedt voicing Eleven
- Luca Diaz as Mike
- Benjamin Plessala as Will
- Braxton Quinney as Dustin
- Elisha 'EJ' Williams for Lucas
- Jolie Hoang-Rappaport as Max
- Odessa A'zion as Nikki Baxter
- Brett Gipson as Jim Hopper
- Janeane Garofalo stepping in as Anna Baxter
- Jeremy Jordan taking on Steve Harrington
- Alessandra Antonelli as Nancy Wheeler
- Valeria Rodriguez as Rosario
- Jack Griffo as Jeff
For the settings, expect the usual haunts like Hawkins Middle School and the Palace Arcade, but the showrunners have promised a few places that haven't been immortalised in waffle-related peril yet.